Cal and Ethan Oneshots
by casualtyfics24
Summary: A series of oneshots about Casualty characters Cal and Ethan. Enjoy! :3
1. Sweet Dreams

**Prompt: C** **al and Ethan childhood!au Ethan has a nightmare, older brother Cal comes to soothe him.**

 **Ethan- 9**

 **Cal- 12**

Cal sighed quietly as he rolled onto his back, folding his arms behind his head and facing up to the ceiling, eyes still closed. He'd had a busy day at school, leaving the boy stressed and tired, not to mention the fact that his parents had been arguing almost constantly since him and Ethan had walked into the house. Not that it was anything both boys hadn't seen before, but oddly, it had had quite a profound effect on Ethan, whom seemed very quiet and not like his usual bubbly, cheeky self at all. But Cal figure that if there was something wrong he'd know.

Rubbing his temple, he looked at his alarm clock to check the time. 11:05 PM. He should really be asleep by now, but his mind was racing with everything that had been going on recently. But at just 12 years old his worries and problems were pitiful, so he just got on with it.

A quiet groan escaped his lips as he looked over to his brother's bed, seeing the sleeping figure of Ethan curled beneath his blue bedsheets, smiling softly to himself as he recalls fond memories of them pulling the duvet onto the floor and hiding beneath it as Ethan persuaded Cal to play Doctor Who with him, the blanket acting as their TARDIS as they travelled to the far corners of the universe, aka- Running around their bedroom wrapped in said bedsheets.

The age gap would've been enough to push any other siblings away but Ethan and Cal had always been close to each other. But more recently, as Cal had just began secondary school, they found themselves drifting away from each other, what with Ethan stuck by himself all day in his school and Cal loaded down with homework from his. Cal had tried talking with his little brother but all Ethan would reply with was a nod, a shake of the head, or maybe the occasional grunt of indifference.

Sniffling slightly, Cal rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, concluding that dwelling on it wouldn't do him any good. He'd sort it out later.

Ethan gasped as he woke, jolting to sit up and panting, his hands shaking as he fumbled about for his glasses. He picked them up and put them on, looking down at his lap before a quiet whimper escaped his lips, falling back against his pillow and sniffling, rubbing his eyes viciously as a tear ran down his cheek.

He'd just woken from another nightmare. They were getting worse and worse, but he had nobody to go to. His Mum and Dad did nothing but argue, and Cal seemed too grown up to care about him anymore, so he had no one to go to for things like this.

Head throbbing, he tried to lay back down but he was too scared about what would happen if he fell asleep again. He couldn't take anymore of these night terrors, he'd been near falling asleep in school because they kept him awake all night. He was getting desperate...

On the verge of tears, Ethan slipped out of his bed and stumbled over to Cal, whom seemed peacefully asleep, and shook his shoulder.

"C-Cal?" He whimpered, waiting for a response. All he got was a quiet snore as his older brother continued to sleep.

"Cal please..." Ethan whimpered, tears spilling over as he shook his brother's shoulder again, finally causing him to wake.

"Wha- Eth?" Cal mumbled, confused as he sat up. He looked to see his little brother shaking, the faint lines left behind by tears streaking his rosy cheeks, and he instantly tapped into his protective older brother mindset.

"Hey, what's up?" Cal asked, sitting up properly and switching his bedside lamp on, causing Ethan to wince and squint.

"B-bad dream, I-," Ethan was interrupted by the swelling lump in his throat as more tears fell from his eyes, trickling down his cheeks.

"Shhh, sh, it's okay," Cal said, pulling Ethan into his arms and onto his knee. "Shhh, shhh, I've got you, you're okay."

Ethan whimpered even more, head buried in his older brother's chest as he tried to calm down, breathing shaky and his chest tightening.

"You should probably have a puff or two, nightmares can't go well with asthma..." Cal said, reaching into his bedside drawer and pulling out a spare inhaler, handing it to Ethan and squeezing down to administer the medication, as he seemed too upset to do it himself.

Ethan sniffled and breathed in, feeling the muscles in his chest relax a little bit as he leant against Cal.

"That better?" Cal asked, rubbing Ethan's chest for him as his younger brother nodded piteously. Cal held the back of his hand to his cheek, wincing as he felt how hot he was.

"You're burning up, hold on, I'll be right back." Cal said, crawling out of bed and tip-toeing to the bathroom, returning with a bottle of liquid paracetamol and a little spoon.

"Here, it says you can have two of these every four hours, so hopefully this will bring your fever down and get rid of your headache." Cal said, pouring the medicine onto the spoon and gently administering it to Ethan.

"Th-thank you..." Ethan hiccuped, sniffling again and looking down to his lap.

Cal smiled at his baby brother. "No problem," he said, walking over to Ethan's bed and looking around for something. "Ah, I knew he was here somewhere," Cal said, giggling softly as he returned to the bed. Ethan looked, a quiet gasp leaving his lips as Cal handed him his bear. Ethan clutched him to his chest, burying his nose into his fur like he did when he was a toddler, closing his eyes.

Cal cooed fondly and crawled back into bed, pulling Ethan back onto his lap and ruffling his hair up, seeing his younger brother relax, but the tears still trickled down his cheeks. Whatever was worrying him must've really shook him up.

"C'mon, let's see a smile?" Cal said, giving him a huge grin to try and gauge a similar reaction from him. Ethan looked up but didn't smile, his eyes big and glassy with tears.

"Nibblessss~," Cal cooed, pulling a silly face at him. Ethan's lips twitched a little bit but other than that he remained seemingly unamused.

Cal raised his eyebrows. "Well then, it seems you've left me with no choice..." Cal smirked and dug his fingers up into his armpits, tickling him.

Ethan squealed and burst into loud, carefree giggles as he squirmed in Cal's lap, trying to escape his older brother. "Cal, stop!" He laughed.

"Not until you promise you'll cheer up!" Cal giggled, holding him close as he continued to tickle him. "Awww, bless, still as ticklish as you always were, hm?" He teased, causing Ethan to blush hard.

"Shut up!" He squealed, still giggling like mad. "Okay- okay! I'll cheer up!"

Cal grinned and stopped, pulling him closer and rubbing his back. "Good. Now, Nibbles, tell Cal what's wrong." He said, tucking his head under his chin and running his fingers through Ethan's golden curls.

Ethan looked down to his lap and swallowed, biting his lip. "Well, um... I had a dream that I'd just came home from school, b-but you weren't there and I went into the living room and..." Ethan stopped to sniffle and take a breath. Cal snuggled him closer and continued to run his fingers through his hair comfortingly.

"M-mum and Dad were there, and they were c-crying so I asked why and, and..." Ethan whimpered softly. "Y-you were dead, Cal..."

Cal pulled his younger brother to his chest even more and gently rocked him back and forth.

"Oh Eth, you silly goose, I'm not going anywhere for a very long time," he gently lifted his baby brother's chin up and gently wiped away his tears with his thumbs. "Trust me, I'm gonna make sure that I stick around forever, just to annoy you." He said, grinning as he fixed Ethan's glasses and booped his nose.

Ethan sniffled and giggled, rubbing his nose, cuddling into Cal's chest, still clutching his bear. "Thank you, Cal..."

"No problem, Nibbles." Cal said, running his fingers through his curls and checking his temperature, smiling softly as he felt him cooling down.

Ethan smiled and closed his eyes, making himself comfortable as he lay next to Caleb, snuggled into his side with his bear, his little thumb gently rubbing against Cal's arm as he began to drift off.

"So, you reckon you're okay to go to sleep now?" Cal asked, turning to see that Ethan had already fallen asleep. Cal awwed softly at the sight; Ethan always looked so peaceful and innocent when he slept. Cal couldn't bring himself to disturb him, and instead shuffled down and lay with him, holding him close.

"Sweet dreams, Nibbles." He whispered, pressing a sweet kiss to his forehead as he drifted off himself.

 **Yayyy, my first oneshot! Let me know what you think of it in the reviews :3**


	2. Brace-Face

**Prompt: Childhood!au. Poor little Ethan gets braces and Cal is relentless with the teasing.**

 **Ethan- 12**

 **Cal- 15**

"But Muuuum, I don't want to get them!" Ethan whined, slumping down into the sofa in hope that she would abandon her failing mission to get him to the orthodontist.

"Ethan, love, you have too," his Mother sighed, sitting next to him and patting his leg. "The dentist said you'll only need them for a year or so, then they'll be off, and think of how lovely your smile will look once you've finished with them!" She said, her hand reaching up to squeeze his shoulder.

"But I'll look like a nerd!" Ethan said into the couch.

"What, more so than you already do? I didn't think that was possible." Called a voice walking into their living room. Cal wore a cheeky grin on his face as he looked down at his younger brother mourning away his last hour of dignity.

"Come on, Ethan, you'll be fine." He said in a gentle tone of voice, causing Ethan to look up shyly. Cal stuck his tongue out and pushed his glasses up for him, pinching his cheek. "Bless, our little Nibbles turning into a metal-mouth- he's growing up so fast~." He cooed jokingly, chuckling and ruffling his hair up.

Ethan grumbled and sat back up, folding his arms. He was met with the pleading eyes of his mother and the smug smile of Caleb. Sighing, he stood up. "Well, let's go then, we're going to be late..." He mumbled.

Cal sat in his bedroom, ears perking at any sign that his Mum and baby Brother may have returned. The wind rustled the leaves of the nearby trees, a drizzle of rain ran down his windows, slightly masking the sound of the family car pulling up into the driveway.

Cal grinned as he heard the door unlock and ran out of his room, hopping down the stairs and skidding into wall around the corner of the hallway, waiting for little Ethan to unknowingly stumble into his lair.

"Ethan darling, come in, you can't stay outside in this weather," his Mother said. Cal sniggered softly to himself as he heard Ethan's calls of despair.

Their mother sighed and walked to the kitchen, knowing her son would enter soon enough.

Ethan stood outside, shivering in his hoodie (a thin, black garment that he'd stolen from Cal). He held his jaw in one hand, sniffling. He knew he should go inside but was also wise to the fact that Cal wouldn't stop teasing him if he did, which he currently wasn't in the mood for at all. Sighing, he caved in and cautiously pushed the door open.

Peeking around the door through his misty frames, he squinted to see if Cal was around. He clenched his jaw shut and, somewhat apprehensively, stepped into the house and turned to shut the door.

Shaky hands twisted the knob, the soft click of the lock ringing through his ears as he slowly turned around. No sign of Cal anywhere. A staggered breath of relief escaped his slightly parted lips as he shrugged his jacket off, walking down the hall to the stairs, hoping to drown his geeky teenage sorrows in half a tub of chocolate ice cream and ten episodes of doctor who.

"So!" Cal cried, jumping from around the corner, pulling his little brother close. "How's my baby bro? Give us a smile, Nibbles!"

Ethan shrieked in surprise, flushing and clamping a hand over his mouth, grumbling and squealing in an attempt to get away from Cal, whom had his arms locked around Ethan's skinny waist, practically picking him up off of the ground.

"Don't be shy, Nibbles, let's see!" Cal teased, chuckling as he let his brother go, twisting him around and gently holding him by the shoulders.

Ethan scowled at him, growling as he stared to the floor, clenching his fists. "Go away, Caleb..." He said, almost whimpering.

Cal smirked. "I'm afraid it's not that easy, little bro, you're going nowhere until I see you smile." He reached out to tickle him under the chin. Ethan but recoiled and his mood dampened even more.

"Oh, is that how we're playing?" Cal said, grinning. Something about the way he said it triggered something in Ethan; a sense of being challenged.

Ethan smirked a little to himself. "Yes, it is." He said, making a run for it and dashing upstairs.

Cal giggled and chased after him, following him to his room. "You can't run forever, Nibbles!" He called. Ethan giggled at the hilarity of the situation, quite enjoying acting so immature for once.

"Can too!" He cried, cringing at the slight lisp that had developed with the addition of the metal in his mouth. He pushed against his bedroom door to stop Cal getting in, whom had made it to the other side and was currently throwing the weight of a thousand men contained in one teenage body against it. "Calm down, you're going to break the door, you big lump!" Ethan called, giggling again.

Cal chuckled to himself and stopped pushing for a minute. "Fine, I'll stop bothering you." He said, stepping back momentarily.

Ethan heard his older brother move from the door and frowned confusedly, pausing before opening the door.

Amateur mistake.

"Oof!" He cried as Cal tackled him to the bed. Cal straddled his waist, Ethan grunting in his feeble attempt to shove him off with one hand whilst trying to cover his mouth up.

"Give up, baby bro," Cal said, grinning as he pinned his arms either side of his head.

Ethan put up one last fight, wriggling around like a trapped mouse (seemingly fitting with his nickname "Nibbles"), before sighing and falling back against his bed. He still kept his lips clamped over his teeth though.

"C'mon, I've had my fun. No more teasing," Cal promised, showing Ethan a sincere smile to signify that he was serious. "I genuinely just want to see them." He chuckled.

Ethan smiled softly, lips still over his teeth, and sighed before giving Cal a proper smile. Cal grinned and peered at the tiny little metal devices glued to Ethan's teeth, his curious mind quelled as he nodded.

"There, that's it. I'm done." Cal said, letting his brother go. He ruffled his hair up. "I'm no expert but I can guess they're pretty sore. But I do happen to be an expert in locating Mum's secret stash of ice-cream she keeps at the back of the freezer. What do you say to half a season of, well, whatever show you want. And I'm sure mum won't notice if just one goes missing this time." He offered.

Ethan bit his lip and smiled, nodding. "Yeah... Thanks, Cal." He said.

"No problem, Nibbles." Cal replied, poking his younger brother on the nose sweetly before running off to find the ice cream.

 **I wanted a bit of brotherly cuteness between the two, despite the fact that they're teenagers, and I thought that the idea of poor Ethan having braces was kinda cute so here we go! Let me know if you guys liked it in the Reviews :3**


	3. I'm Here

**Prompt: Ethan is poorly in hospital and in need of his brother, Cal. Lots of comfort ensues.**

 **Ethan- 7**

 **Cal- 10**

"Is he done yet?"

"Mum?"

"Muuuuum?"

The ten-year old sighed and buried his face into his arms. He sat cross-legged at a coffee table on the floor. A scary nurse had given him some colouring sheets and crayons whilst he waited for his brother to come out of the theatre, but Caleb was too worried about Ethan to colour in pictures of powerrangers and footballs.

He'd been trapped in this room for almost an hour now and he was growing bored quickly. Flopping back onto the floor he looked up at the ceiling. The pale grey tiles seemed symbolic for the feeling of dread and despair stirring in his stomach as he wondered what was taking the doctors so long...

Groaning quietly, he rolled onto his stomach and looked around the room in an attempt to find something interesting. He was faced with the deep teal walls, an unfittingly cheery colour for the family waiting room. In the corner stood a coffee machine, hissing and steaming as the beverages were dispensed from the shiny body of the machine.

Creased faux leather couches and armchairs were placed around the room, the majority of which were taken up by grown-ups, all reading the selection of boring tabloids and newspapers scattered around. There were a few on the table that Caleb was sat at, but his mother had warned him not to look at them. He couldn't see why he wasn't allowed to, one of them had a large picture of a bunny with a bow tie on the front, which seemed pretty harmless, but he obeyed his mother and left it.

His eyes flickered over to the door, where the colourful scrubs and white shoes of passing doctors and nurses were visible. Even though the door was closed, it couldn't mask the constant bleeping of the strange machines in nearby wards, or the whines of children as they made their way to said wards.

But the thing that made Caleb's stomach tie itself in knots was the fact that they placed the waiting room next to the meeting room for parents with very sick children. Caleb bit his lip as he heard the muffled sobs of parents leaving the room, covering his ears to avoid hearing the bad news, though he could easily guess what it was.

Even though he knew Ethan was fine and that he was only in their for an appendectomy, he couldn't help but worry that something could have gone wrong in the operation theatre. His chest grew tight as he thought about life without his baby brother.

A tiny whimper escaped his lips, blinking aggressively to avoid tears spilling over, but he didn't get away with it without his mother noticing.

"Caleb? Sweetheart what's wrong?" She asked, putting down her magazine and opening her arms. Caleb sniffled and shuffled over to her, climbing into her lap. She rubbed his back soothingly, just like she did whenever he or Ethan was sick, only causing more tears to stream down his flushed cheeks as he was reminded of Ethan.

"I-I don't want Ethan to d-d-die, Mum..." He choked, burying his face into her chest as he cried silently.

"Oh, Caleb, come here you silly thing," She said, holding him close and continuing to rub his back, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Ethan is just fine, he'll be out of the surgery room in ten minutes and he certainly isn't going to die. It's a very simple procedure and the doctors have done it a million times before."

"B-but what if something d-does go wrong?" Caleb whimpered, sniffling.

"He'll be fine, darling, I promise," She whispered, gently rocking him back and forth.

"C'mon, be a brave boy, for him?" She said, smiling and holding him closer, gently running her thumbs over the backs of his hands.

Cal sniffled and rested his head against his Mother's chest, nodding softly. "Okay..." He said quietly.

"Don't be such a worry-guts." His mum said, smiling and tickling his stomach. Cal giggled and batted her hand away, cuddling into her arm as she picked her magazine back up.

"Ethan Hardy's parents?" Came a voice from across the room. Cal perked up and smiled as he jumped down from his mother's lap, the pair making their way over to the door.

"How is he?" Their mother asked.

"He's not woken up yet, but he will have soon. Just a warning, he'll still quite woozy from the anesthetic, but he'll be okay," The doctor replied, looking down to see Caleb. "Oh, I'm sorry sweetheart, but we can only allow parents in at first. You'll have to wait with a nurse I'm afraid…"

Caleb's heart sank and tears brewed in his eyes as the doctor called a passing nurse to come and watch over him.

"I'll be back soon, Cal." His mother said, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Cal sniffled and nodded, watching his Mother walk off with the doctor.

"I'm sure your brother will be fine, darling." Said the nurse, smiling at him sweetly. "Now, if you want to, you can come with me and I'll find something nice for us to do whilst we wait for your brother to be moved into a ward. How does that sound?"

Cal rubbed his eyes and nodded again. The nurse smiled sadly.

"Try not to worry about him. I've already seen to him and he's going to be just fine." She said, taking Cal's hand. "How do you fancy a game of chess?"

A small smile spread across Cal's face. "Me and Ethan play chess all the time."

"Great! C'mon." She said, taking him to her office.

"Nurse?" came a quiet voice from the door.

Cal and the Nurse giggled and turned around from their game, seeing the Doctor who had escorted Cal's Mother to the recovery room before.

"Yes, Doctor?" The Nurse replied.

"The patient Ethan Hardy won't settle down. He says he wants to see his brother. I know we typically only allow one member of family at a time but he really is quite upset, so-,"

"Ethan! I want to see Ethan!" Cal squealed, jumping up from his seat. The Nurse smiled and took his hand again, both following the Doctor.

She pushed open a door that led into a large room. The walls were painted a clean, off-white colour, with tiles of a similar hue paving the floor. There were roughly twelve beds, some occupied by children, surrounded by their families as they woke up. There was one at the end with the curtains drawn; which Caleb presumed was Ethan's.

"He's got the best view in the house, lucky duck" The Doctor joked light-heartedly, referring to the large window overlooking the hospital gardens. She led them to the curtained cubicle and gently pulling the fabric away to reveal the bed.

A rosy-cheeked Ethan lay in the hospital bed, his glasses balanced on his nose. He looked tired, but better than he was before when he was pale and sickly. There was an oxygen mask resting on his chest, blowing cool air into his face to help him wake up. Little strands of his golden blond hair stuck up, caught in the gentle airflow of the mask in front of him. Tear marks were streaking down his cheeks as his whimpered softly, his breathing staggered. Their mother was sat by his side, stroking his hair in an attempt to calm him down.

"Hello Ethan, how do you feel?" The doctor asked.

Ethan blinked and looked around, sniffling. "Wh-where's Cal? I want my brother..." He said tearfully.

Caleb gave him a soft smile before walking up to the side of his bed and stroking his forehead with the back of his finger.

"Hey, Nibbles..." He said, smiling even more.

The nickname must've triggered something, because Ethan's eyes lit up and he tried to move towards Cal, lifting his hands and reaching out for him, wincing slightly as he felt a sharp pain where the stitches in his abdomen were.

"Be careful," Cal said, gently pushing his shoulders back to lay him down. "How do you feel?"

"Mm..." Ethan whined in response, tears building up in his eyes. He was sore and tired and felt sick and just wanted to go home.

"Hey, hey, don't cry!" Cal said softly, using his thumbs to wipe away his tears. "You're okay now, look, they made your tummy better." He said, gesturing to his stomach.

"I want Cal..." Ethan whimpered, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm here, Ethan." Cal said softly, holding his hand. "Look, it's me."

Ethan sniffled tearfully and looked up, whimpering again as he buried his face into Caleb's chest, snuggling into him.

"Yes, I'm here, silly." Cal giggled, hugging him very gently, rubbing his back and pressing a tiny kiss to his forehead.

"I missed you..." He said into his chest, looking up at him and smiling weakly.

Caleb chuckled fondly and tapped his nose. "I missed you too."

"Ethan, how does your stomach feel?" The Doctor asked, smiling at the sight of the two siblings.

"Sore..." He said shyly.

"We can give you some pain medication if you like?" She offered, taking his hand with the cannula in.

Ethan nodded, cuddling into Cal as she injected a small syringe of fluid into his arm, shifting uncomfortably. "It feels cold..." He said.

"I know sweetie, but it'll make your tummy feel a lot better." She said, connecting his IV up to the bag of fluids above the bed. "Now, the plan is to let you go in a couple of hours, but for now we're just going to observe you and run a few tests, but in the mean time you should just relax and try and get some sleep."

Ethan's mother nodded and smiled down at her sons. The Doctor left the cubicle and walked down the ward. Their Mother turned to them and smiled. "Who wants me to go find some Ice-Cream?"

Ethan and Cal alike gasped and shot their hands up in the air, smiling widely. She giggled and patted Caleb's head. "Watch Ethan for a moment."

Cal turned to Ethan with a grin, holding him close.

"How do you feel?" He asked softly, playing with pieces of his golden curls.

"Tired. Sad. Sick…" Ethan mumbled, snuggling into Cal's chest.

"Awww Eth, you'll be okay," Cal said, cuddling him closer. "Want me to tell you a story?"

A smile graced Ethan's lips as he nodded, looking up at Cal. Cal chuckled and shuffled to sit next to him, wrapping an arm around his side and pulling him close, beginning to whisper in his ear.

"Okay, so-…"

Their mother returned, having managed to obtain two small ice-lollies from the hospital café, to find her two sons asleep. Caleb was carefully lying next to Ethan, holding him close, and Ethan was cuddled into his chest.

She cooed softly, deciding not to disturb them. The Ice Cream could wait.

 **I wanted lots of comfort and cute brotherly love with this one haha. Let me know what you think :3**


	4. Admit It

**Prompt: childhood!au with Cal, Ethan, and Honey. Ethan gets his first crush and refuses to admit it, so Cal has to use other strategies to get his brother to talk... ;) (don't worry it's just fluff lol)**

 **(A/N: I know that Honey had no connection with the boys as children but I thought it'd be nice to write about that possibility :3)**

 **Ethan- 6**

 **Cal- 10**

 **Honey- 6**

"Honey?" Ethan said, looking up at the sky.

"Yeah?" Replied the girl next to him, turning to face the young boy.

"What do you wanna be when you grow up?" He asked, folding his arms behind his head and continuing to gaze at the clouds.

The six-year old girl paused, pondering her next words. Both children were laying on the grass of the local park. They came here as often as they could to spend time together; it was always quiet and not even many of the other local kids knew of it. It was perfect. However, Ethan's Mother being the over-protective parent she was, made Cal go along with them to ensure that they were okay, much to Caleb's annoyance.

Their favourite area was beneath the trees in the far corner. It was sheltered and cool, but glints of sunshine still shone through gaps between branches; dappling their smiling faces as they spoke.

"I don't know yet." Honey said, rolling onto her stomach and resting her head onto her arms, smiling at Ethan. "How about you?"

"I'm going to be a Doctor." Ethan stated, his lips curling upwards. "I'll work in a hospital and fix people who are poorly and make them better again."

"Cool!" Honey giggled, picking at blades of grass. "Maybe I could work in a hospital too. But not as a doctor; I don't like needles or blood. But I want to help people."

"You could read them stories to cheer them up," Ethan suggested. "Or make them tea. My mummy says tea makes everything better." He giggled.

"I'll do that then." Honey said, smiling. "We can work together that way." She added, shyly taking Ethan's had in her own.

A rosy blush dusted across Ethan's cheeks as he looked down at their hands. Looking back up to Honey he smiled and squeezed her hand, causing her to blush in a similar fashion.

"I like you Honey. You're my best friend."

"You're mine too, Ethan." Honey told him, smiling softly and sitting up a little bit.

Ethan did the same, fixing his glasses and jumping as he felt a tap on his shoulder, looking up to see Cal.

"C'mon, Nibbles, Mum wants us back soon." He said, smirking softly.

Ethan pouted and stood up, giving Honey his hand and helping to pull her up too. The pair smiled at each other once more and hugged tightly. Honey buried her face into Ethan's neck as he held his close, swaying her a little bit.

"Okay, lovebirds, split it up." Cal teased. Ethan and Honey blushed hard and they both moved away, looking slightly sheepish.

"Bye Honey." Ethan said.

"Bye Ethan." She replied. "See you tomorrow?"

Ethan gave her his classic little cheeky grin. "Of course."

Cal rolled his eyes and dragged his brother down the path that lead to their road.

"You fancy Honeyyy!" Cal cooed, closing the front door and turning to face his little brother.

Ethan, whom was how crimson-cheeked and flustered tried desparately to find some sort of excuse.

"I-I do not!" He protested.

"Do toooooo! I saw you hold hands!" Cal teased, poking his brother's nose.

Ethan scrunched his nose up and blushed even more. "S-So what? That doesn't mean I f-fancy her!" He stuttered, backing away from Cal.

Cal smirked. "Admit it, little brother, you loooove her~.' He said.

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

"Shut up!" Ethan snapped, crossing his arms and turning away from Cal.

Caleb gasped, another grin spreading across his face. "My, what's this? Nibbles being cheeky? Well that just won't do..." He said, smirking as he stepped forward and turned his brother around by the shoulders. "Luckily, I have a special method to get what I need from you."

"And what's that?" Ethan asked, still angry but now slightly tense and nervous.

Cal looked up and chuckled quietly, raising his hands and wiggling his fingers. Ethan paled and squeaked, moving backwards until he hit the wall, jumping as he saw Caleb still approaching him.

"N-no, Cal, don't do this-," he began, before making a dash for the stairs and racing to their room.

"You can run, but you can't hide, Nibbles!" Cal cried, giggling and chasing after him.

Ethan ran into their room, panting and looking for a good hiding place to escape his brothers torture. The pounding of Cal's footsteps grew increasingly louder, causing nervous giggles to escape his mouth as he dove under his bed, laying flat on his stomach.

The door burst open, Cal jumping into the room and looking around to find his brother- only to be greeted with their room as it was this morning. Cal's bed was messy and undone, Ethan's was neatly made, his teddy sat upright on his pillow, a suspicious amount of noise emitting from underneath the frame...

Cal smirked and slowly walked to sit on the edge of Ethan's bed, using another one of his tricks to get him to crack.

"Hm... I wonder where Ethan's gone?" He said to himself, gently tapping the toes of his shoes together and listening closely for a response.

Ethan couldn't help but smile, giggles once again bubbling out of his mouth as he attempted to remain quiet.

Cal smiled softly to himself, amused with how simple teasing words could send Ethan into fits of giggles. He reached under the bed and grabbed his brother by the arms, causing him to squeal loudly.

"Gotcha, squirt!" He giggled, clambering down from the bed and wrestling his brother to the floor. Ethan would've normally tried to put up a fight, but since he was weakened with laughter that his attempts were futile.

"I'll give you one last chance to confess your love for Honey, Nibbles." Cal said in a teasing tone, reminding Ethan of how he got here in the first place.

"I don't love Honey!" Ethan squeaked, cheeks glowing rosy red again. Cal tutted and sat back, another fiendish grin spreading across his face.

"Well then, Nibbles, I'm afraid you've left me with no choice..." Cal said. Ethan trembled with anticipation, his lips twitching as he knew what was coming.

"Looks like I'll have to tickle it out of you!" Cal giggled, digging his fingers under Ethan's arms.

Ethan squealed loudly, clamping down his arms and bursting into loud, giggly laughter. He had always been ridiculously ticklish, and Cal had always loved to exploit it whenever he had the chance.

"Nohoho, Cahahal!" Ethan laughed, squirming and trying to escape.

"Ah ah ah! You're going nowhere, little brother," Cal said, grinning as he skittered his fingers around his ribs. "Not til you tell me how much you loooove herrrr~."

Ethan giggled even louder, the blush creeping back onto his cheeks. "Nehehever!"

Cal sighed playfully at his brother's stubbornness, continuing to tickle him. Ethan squirmed and wriggled around, giggling loudly as he tried feebly to push Cal's hands away.

"Awwww, trying to get away are we?" Cal cooed, grinning and digging his fingers back up under his arms, earning a squeal and an outbreak of laughter from Ethan. "You know, you could end this all if you just tell me that you have a crush on Honey." He reminded teasingly.

"Nohohoho! I wohohon't do ihihit!"

Cal raised an eyebrow, smirking even more. "Suit yourself." He said, looking down. "Remind me, where was your worst spot again?" Asked Cal, eyes flickering up to look Ethan in the eye.

Ethan blushed and squirmed nervously, giggles still bubbling out of his lips, especially when Cal hovered his hands over his stomach.

"Ahhh, I remember now!" Cal said, grinning. "It was juuust... Here!" He exclaimed, fingers scribbling all ober Ethan's tummy.

Ethan shrieked and fell into peals of laughter, wriggling around and pushing at Cal's hands.

"NOHOHOHO! CAHAHAL!" He squealed, smiling so hard as he laughed that his face hurt.

"Nawww, bless," Cal cooed, one hand still tickling as he reached out to pinch his brothers cheek. "Nibbles is too ticklish for his own good."

"IHIHIHI CAHAHA-" Ethan giggled, still squirming around in an attempt to shake his brother off, but it was no use, he wouldn't stop tickling him. "OKAHAHAY! STAHAHAP!"

Cal giggled and slowed down his tickling, keeping it gentle enough just to provoke quiet giggles from his little brother, but not stopping entirely so that he would stick to his previous words.

"Go ahead, say it."

Ethan continued giggling, squirming a little bit.

"I-I fahahancy Honehehey..." He said, the blush on his cheeks reappearing.

"There, that wasn't so hard!" Cal said, giving his sides one more squeeze before stopping.

Ethan flinched hard, one final giggle escaping his lips before he calmed down. He looked up at Cal, face flushed and hair toussled slightly with all of the squirming. Cal smiled softly and stroked the hair out of his eyes.

"Don't worry, I won't tell her," he reassured Ethan. "Plus I can already tell she likes you back."

Ethan smiled widely, his eyes glittering hopefully. "R-really?"

"Yup," Cal said, popping the "p". Ethan looked up at the ceiling, smiling to himself wistfully.

"She likes me..." He whispered to himself.

"Alright, alright, no need to get so soppy..." Cal chuckled, whining as Ethan threw his pillow at him. "Oi! Watch it, Nibbles, or you've got round two coming your way!" He warned, wiggling his fingers again.

Ethan giggled and stuck his tongue out at him. Cal raised an eyebrow and smirked, crawling over and pinning him down again.

"Cal? No- wahahait!" Ethan squealed, his laughter filling the room once again.

 **I apologize for not updating for a while, school has been very busy recently, but here we go! :3**

 **Thought it'd be cute to have a little bit of teasing brotherly love (I'm aware I say that at the end of every oneshot I write haha) and I can definitely picture Cal torturing poor Ethan like this, nawwww 3**

 **Also, my heart is shattered from the most recent episodes involving Matilda (30x12 and 30x13), poor Cal!**

 **If you have a prompt or suggestion for a storyline that you'd want to see from me, do request it either via a message or in the reviews :3**

 **Hope you enjoyed reading! Please r &r, maybe even favourite? **

**See you next time, fellow shoelaces :D**

 **Bella**


	5. Don't Cry

Prompt: Cal comes home, heartbroken and exhausted, and little Ethan comforts him.

Ethan- 6

Cal- 15

"Where is he, mum?" Ethan asked, worriedly trying to sit up in bed. His mother gently hushed him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Don't worry, lovely, I'm sure he's okay. His curfew isn't up for another hour, so I'm sure he'll be back soon," she reassured her youngest son, laying him back down. "Tell you what can you do a special job for me?" She asked, to which Ethan nodded.

"In an hours time, if Caleb isn't back, you come and tell me, yeah?" She explained, running her fingers through his hair. "And we'll ring him and make sure he gets home. Alright?"

Ethan nodded again, smiling softly. "Okay."

She smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "That's my good boy. Now, try and get some rest." She said, squeezing his shoulder before standing up and closing over his bedroom door.

Ethan huffed and wriggled around in his bed, laying on his stomach and staring at the blue face of his TARDIS watch. The hands indicated that it was now nine o'clock. Cal had exactly one hour to come home. But it was odd, Ethan thought, he was always back before eight o'clock whenever he went out... It didn't feel right being in his room alone.

He squinted at the empty bed next to his own, eyes flickering over the crumpled grey sheets, the occasional sock or t-shirt strewn about the duvet, and, if you looked closely enough, the paw of a childhood bear, still cuddled through the night, (although Cal had made Ethan double pinky-promise not to tell anybody about it.) everything was there. Except for Cal.

Ethan wasn't used to his brother being away for so long, except for the one time her went on a residential trip with his secondary school. As soon as it occurred to Ethan that Cal wouldn't be home for a whole week, he spent the first night of his brother's departure sobbing into his mothers chest, unable to calm down. When he returned he flung himself into Cal's arms and refused to let go, Cal holding him close, pressing a kiss to his forehead and whispering about how he had missed him even more.

His watch now read ten minutes past nine. Fifty minutes until Cal came back.

Drowsiness had begun to seep into his thoughts, clouding his vision and blocking out noise. His eyelids flickered as he tried hard to stay awake, pinching his arm and keeping his eyes open as wide as he could. He looked over at Cal's empty bed again, hesitating...

Quietly, he slid out of his bed, tip-toeing over to Cal's and crawling underneath his covers, snuggling into his pillow and breathing in the warm scent of his older brother (after flicking off the socks and t-shirts) Fumbling about, he pulled Cal's bear to his chest too, holding it close as he looked at his watch again. Quarter-past nine. He wanted to stay awake long enough to see Cal come back home, but his eyelids were already starting to droop.

"No..." He thought to himself, rubbing his eyes and trying hard to fight off the urge to rest, but it soon became too strong; sleep overcame him.

"Excuse me, mister?"

"Mummy? Why is that man so sad?"

"Hush, Jamie!"

Cal blinked, his surroundings slowly starting to seep in. Where was he? What time was it? When did he get here? Why was it so dark? He shuffled about a little bit and trying to comprehend his current environment... The primary blue colour that glowed around him in the night told him that he was stood at the bus station... The flashing scarlet digits on his wristwatch told him it was 9:18 PM... He heard the quiet mumbles of mingling strangers in the background, some concernedly pestering him to see if he was alright, but he was in no fit state of mind to answer. He didn't care. Not anymore.

That's when the tears came. Quickly and fast-flowing, they streamed down his cheeks, his eyes sad and sorrowful as he stared off into the distance, his heart aching.

Taylor, the bitch, had just confessed to him how she had been cheating with some other guy and didn't want Cal and herself to have a relationship built on lies. She didn't need to show Cal the way out, he was far too eager to escape from her once she broke the news, but now his heart yearned for her and the sweet memories they had made together the past few months.

He didn't know how to handle these new emotions the situation had procured at all; so he didn't. He sat and cried, numb and heartbroken, wanting nothing more than to go home and slump into bed, where he planned to stay for the rest of his life, mourning their relationship.

"Are you okay, dear?" Asked a kindly-looking mother with her small son clinging to her legs, peering up at Cal inquisitively.

Cal looked down at him and up at her, his breath hitching as he cried silently, the hot tears collecting at his chin and leaving his eyes red and puffy. He was far from okay.

"Um, yes, I'm f-fine-," He said, interrupted as his bus pulled up, the doors hissing and creaking open.

Rising slowly from his position on the bus bench, he slowly stepped onto the bus, the warm air enveloping him somewhat comfortingly (as comfortingly as British public transport can be, anyway) as he spilled his fistful of change into the drivers hand, collecting his ticket and shuffling to the back, choosing to sit away from everybody else and curling his knees to his chest, sniffing piteously as the bus started up again, bumbling down the road.

"Come on, don't be so depressing..." He thought to himself. "Think of the positives..." (Not that there were many)

Soon he would be home, where his mother and Ethan would be waiting for him. Well, Ethan was most likely to be asleep by now, seeing as it was creeping towards half-past nine, but he would be home, where hopefully his mother would have saved him something to eat from earlier, and she knew him well enough to leave the questions til the morning instead of pestering him whilst he was upset.

Oddly enough, it was Ethan who Caleb had been missing. Saying that, him and his younger brother had a stronger bond than most siblings, despite the massive age gap. Ethan was sweet for a six year old, he was never a pest and rarely did anything to upset Caleb, though he could be a little annoying at times, not that he intended to though, he was such a kind, innocent little soul.

Being with Ethan always cheered Cal up- the little squirt was just so cute, and quite honestly adored him back. From the day he was born, when he first held the bundle of blankets containing his baby brother, Cal's heart had melted for Ethan- he vowed to protect him no matter what, and he had stayed true to that statement ever since.

The two got on well, despite Cal's constant (but well-meant) teasing. Whether it was picking him up and spinning him around, tickling him til he begged for mercy, dangling his toys just out of his reach, or whatever new and malicious way he had found to taunt his baby brother, he always made it up to him (i.e. cuddling him and stroking his hair and watching his favourite TV programmes with him until Ethan deemed him worthy of his forgiveness).

As much as Cal loved Ethan, it was clear that Ethan loved him even more, he admired his older brother greatly, and always came to Caleb at random points throughout the day to show him a picture he drew for him (a Cal now had quite the collection of prodigy wax crayon scribbles in a box under his bed), or to ask him a question ("How do you tell a pretty girl you like her? Because Hon- I mean, a p-pretty girl said she liked me and I like her too?", "How far away is the moon from our back garden? I want to build a rocket ship but I need to know if four bottles of lemonade is enough fuel to get there." But to name a few.), or sometimes just because he wanted affection; it wasn't uncommon to find Ethan asleep on Cal's lap whilst he was doing his homework, Cal holding him close and rubbing his back, jiggling his knee and humming softly to help him drift off.

Cal found himself smiling through his tears, so he let himself enjoy the little moment of happiness, glad to be thinking of something other than his stupid ex-girlfriend, almost not noticing the bus pull up to the stop at the end of his streets. He quickly stood up and thanked the driver, stepping off and shivering at the return of the cold, walking with urgency up the road.

Tiptoeing up the stairs, Cal saw that their bedroom door was closed over, so tried his best to be quiet in order to prevent disturbing Ethan, whom was now almost certainly asleep. It had just gone ten o'clock, so it wasn't like Cal broke his curfew, but nonetheless his mother was concerned as to why he had stayed out so late, but didn't press into him too much. She was kind enough to have saved Cal food from earlier, which his growling stomach was grateful for (heartache worked up a strong appetite.) Once he had finished, she pulled him in for a hug and offered to talk with him about things, earning her the usual grumpy teen response of "uggggh I'm fine mum!" But he wasn't quite mean enough to not hug her back before he creeped upstairs.

Wincing slightly at the creaking floorboards, he slowly stepped into his and Ethan's room, peeking around the corner to be met with an adorable sight. Ethan was curled up in Cal's bedsheets, glasses wonkily balanced on the bridge of his nose, Cal's bear clutched to his chest, his nose pressed into his fur as he slept peacefully. Cal smiled warmly, despite the few stray tears still running down his cheeks from before, and shrugged his jacket off, pulling on a pyjama shirt and pants, running his fingers through his hair before sitting on his bed next to Ethan.

The new weight on the mattress caused Ethan to stir slightly, but it wasn't enough to wake him from his slumber. Cal smiled and gently ruffled Ethan's hair up. "Ethan?" He said softly, but he still didn't respond. Cal squeezed his shoulder a couple of times, which did actually manage to wake Ethan, as Cal saw his nose wrinkle and his eyelashes flutter, but he closed his eyes again, traces of a smile on his face.

Cal smirked softly. "Oh? Is that how we're going to play?" He asked, scuttling his fingers down his neck and lightly scribbling them under the chin, making point of how incredibly ticklish his younger brother was. Ethan tried hard to bear it, the smile on his face growing as he squirmed at the touch, but eventually caved in and broke into giggles, wriggling to get away from his hands.

"Aha, I knew you were awake!" Cal said, grinning and tickling him more, earning squeal and light-hearted pleas from Ethan as he wriggled around, pushing at his hands. Cal chuckled and pulled him into his lap, hugging him close,making the most of the moment of playfulness between the two before his heart started sinking again.

"Cal!" Ethan said, nuzzling into his brothers chest. "I missed you..."

"I missed you too, Nibbles." Cal said, running his fingers through his hair and wiping his eyes, still sniffling slightly.

"I counted all night on my Doctor Who watch waiting for you to come home, mum said you'd be back by ten o'clock and she was right!" He said enthusiastically, looking up at Cal and frowning slightly when he saw tears running down his cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" He asked.

Cal paused for a moment as everything came flooding back in, more tears slipping out of his eyes as he searched for the right way to phrase what he was feeling.

Ethan reached up and wiped Cal's tears away gently. "Hey," he said, smiling softly. "Don't cry, you'll be okay." Ethan cuddled into his brother's shoulder, rubbing his back with his little hands.

Cal was touched by his younger brother's sweetness, so much so that he hugged him closer and cried even more.

"What happened?" Ethan mumbled into Cal's shoulder, still cuddling into him.

"It was, um, T-Taylor..." Cal said, whimpering slightly as he said her name, realising he'd lost her forever. "We aren't f-friends anymore..."

Ethan scrunched his nose up. "I don't like Taylor, she used to pinch my cheeks too hard and mess my hair up..." He admitted.

Cal sniffled, rubbing his eyes and smiling slightly. "What, like this?" He said, pinching Ethan's rosy cheek and ruffling his hair up, earning giggly whines from Ethan, whom was trying to bat away his hands.

"Did she do something mean?" Ethan asked innocently, holding Cal's hand and playing with his fingers.

"Yeah..." Cal said, sighing softly. "But at least I don't have to see her anymore... "

Ethan paused for a moment. "Do you miss her?" he asked, still fiddling with his fingers.

Cal swallowed and nodded his head, gently tucking Ethan's head under his chin and using his free hand to gently wrap locks of Ethan's hair around his fingers, feeling Ethan nuzzle into his hand.

"Sometimes missing people is just part of moving on from them." Ethan mumbled, eyelids drooping slightly.

Cal smiled, pretty impressed by the complexity of what his brother had just said, assuming he had just heard an adult say it and figured that it applied well to Cal's current dilemma. Either way, it was reassuring to hear.

"You're right, Eth." He said yawning and shuffling to lay down, Ethan following and resting next to him, half- asleep.

Cal smiled again. As odd as it must sound, he found it very relaxing to watch Ethan sleep, he always looked so peaceful, even somewhat angelic with his golden hair and gentle, innocent expression, it always calmed Cal.

"You sleepy?" He asked, yawning viciously himself, hearing a soft grumble as. Ethan snuggled into him more, almost completely asleep now.

Cal pressed a little kiss to his forehead, smiling as he began to drift off himself, cuddling Ethan close, like a teddy bear. "Night, Nibbles..." He whispered, taking his glasses off for him.

Ethan gave him one last little grin, burying his face into his chest. "G'night Cal..."

 **Hey guys! Sorry that I haven't been as active recently, I've by very busy over Christmas, but I've managed to write something :) Casualty has been so sad recently! What with Cal meeting his birth mother and finding out about the Hutingtons :( It doesn't look like it'll be getting any better for the pair this week either...**

 **On a side note, I'm thinking of starting a short chaptered sick!fic, maybe around 10 chapters? Please let know if thin would interest you :)**

 **Please do rate and review, maybe even follow this series of oneshots? It would mean an awful lot to me :)**

 **And finally, I have a tumblr blog! I am cals-little-toad on tumblr, I reblog a bunch of casualty-related stuff if you would like to follow me :)**

 **Until next time! :)**


	6. Before It's Too Late (I)

Prompt: Cal and Ethan see to a young patient, who reminds them of Matilda, with a heart-breaking story. They do their best to save her before it's too late.

Ethan- Current Age

Cal- Current Age

(As of the time in the series when Matilda was in Cal's care.)

...

"See you later, Toad." Cal whispered softly, smiling down at his baby girl and gently tapping her nose. She giggled and squirmed in response as the crèche worker cooed, taking her into the nursery.

"She is rather cute, I must say..." Ethan said, smiling softly as him and Cal walked back towards the ED.

"Isn't she just?" Cal said, grinning. "I can't stop smiling whenever I think about her."

"She's turning you soft, Caleb." Ethan teased as they came to the staff room.

Cal frowned playfully, shrugging off his jacket. "Me? Soft? Don't be daft, Nibbles."

"Oh yeah?" Ethan grinned. "So you're telling me that you don't care at all when you spend all evening dancing around the kitchen with her, singing horribly out of tune just to get her to sleep? And that you don't care when she looks up to you, her big blue eyes full of love, because she knows you're her daddy?" He questioned. "And that you don't care how she always manages to put that silly grin on your face?" Ethan reached out and poked Cal's smiling cheek, causing the older brother to grumble and flush as he realised he had been smiling this whole time.

"W-whatever, I guess I've grown to become f-fond of her; the little toad..." He stammered, pulling his scrubs on.

Ethan smiled fondly at his brother, quite pleased that he got the chance to tease Caleb a little bit, opposed to the usual situation of Cal tormenting him.

Cal pulled his stethoscope around his neck, the same smile still gracing his lips. Ethan was right about everything, but let's be honest, Cal thought, how could you not love her? She was always happy, a trait which seemed to rub off onto those around her, and she always gazed up at him with adoration, squealing and reaching her little chubby baby arms up for a cuddle. She slept well, and on the rare occasion that she woke up crying, all it took was a Tina Turner song and a quick round of "bouncy-bouncy" to settle her again, her sobs turning into sniffly, giggly hiccups. Not to mention the fact that she just always looked so _cute_ , what with those big doe-like eyes and her pretty little smile and-

"Caleb? Caleb?" Ethan said, squeezing his brothers shoulder.

"Wha-?" Cal asked, still half-grinning.

"Come on, we're needed." Ethan said, walking with a slight sense of urgency towards the entrance. Cal followed behind him, trying to focus on the task at hand.

...

"Right boys, this is Emily," Dixie said, referring to the little girl on the trolley, cradling her hand to her chest. "She's 5 years old and had an accident in the park, we don't know fully what happened but from the scene we can assume she was playing and knocked into a tree. Query fractured left radius, GCS was..." Dixie carried on, pushing Emily in a wheelchair down the corridor. Emily looked up at both doctors.

"Hello, Emily," Ethan said, smiling. "I'm Dr. Hardy, but you can call me Ethan, and this is my brother, Cal."

"Oi, that's Dr. Knight to you." Cal teased, causing her to giggle as Dixie pushed her through the doors into resus.

"Now, Emily, we need you to wiggle over to the other bed, take your time though, and mind you don't hurt your hand." Dixie said as Ethan and Cal prepped the cubicle. Emily shuffled across to the cubicle trolley, wincing slightly as she tried her best not to move her arm.

"Okay, be careful there," Ethan said, giving her a hand by gently lifting her under the arms over onto the bed. "Don't want to make your poorly arm any worse now, do we?" He said with a soft smile, reassuring her.

"I'll leave you to it, guys." Dixie said, ruffling Emily's hair up and walking out back to the ambulance station.

"She's nice. The ambulance lady." Emily said, looking towards the door and smiling.

"Dixie? Yeah, she's lovely. Always puts a smile on your face," Cal grinned, crouching down beside Emily's bed. "So, tell me, how exactly did this happen?"

Emily shifted a little on the bed, suddenly going very quiet and turning to face away from him. Cal looked towards her concernedly.

"Emily?" He asked.

"I... Um..." She stuttered. "I went to the p-park on my roller-b-boots and I slipped a-and fell into a t-tree..."

"And you're completely sure that's what happened?" Ethan asked, sitting at the bottom of the bed.

Emily nodded, biting her lip. Both Doctors shared a worried glance towards each other before turning back to her.

"Okay then, let's get this arm fixed." Ethan said, gently smiling as he examined her wrist. Emily flinched and scrunched her nose up at the pain,

"Where about is the pain?" Ethan asked, lightly feeling different areas of her arm. He pressed around the middle of her wrist and she gasped, snatching her arm away and clutching it to her chest, sniffling.

"Sorry," Ethan winced, jumping a little bit. "Okay, Cal, can we page x-ray and also get 5mg of intranasal morphine please?"

Cal nodded as Ethan wandered off to find her medical records. He turned to Emily and smiled, but it quickly disappeared as he saw she was crying.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" He asked, crouching down to her level and cupping her cheeks.

"I want to go h-home..." She said, staring down at her lap. "I want my..." She began but stopped, biting her lip again. "S-sorry..."

"What are you sorry for, hm?" Cal asked. "You've not done anything wrong, it's not your fault that you tripped, and my brother is a very good doctor, so your arm will be better in no time," He said. "Don't tell him I said that though." He whispered, winking.

Emily giggled softly through her sniffling, nodding and wiping her eyes with her good hand.

"There we go, I can see a smile." Cal said, grinning up at her. "Could be a bit bigger though..." He tapped his chin in mock thought. "Aha!" He exclaimed, and stuck his tongue out, crossing his eyes.

Emily giggled and copied him, making Cal gasp in shock.

"That's not very nice! Are you making fun of me?" He asked, pulling another silly face, this time managing to make her laugh out loud as she mimicked his expression again.

"Cheeky thing, you are." Cal said, unable to stop himself from smiling as she giggled.

 _She looked just like Matilda when she laughed; innocent, care-free, her eyes shining with joy..._

"Okie dokie, Emily, we've found your medical records and-," Ethan walked in on Cal and the patient giggling hysterically, causing a smile to appear on his own face. "Have I missed something?" He asked.

"Oh no, nothing at all, has he, Emily?" Cal asked, winking at her and tapping his nose. Emily giggled and nodded at Ethan.

"Alrighty, Cal, could I have a word outside, please?" Ethan asked. Cal nodded and stepped outside the curtains, but not quickly enough to avoid Ethan stick his fingers up in a bunny-ear fashion behind his head, making Emily laugh again. He chuckled to himself before turning to speak with Cal.

"So, I've found her notes, and it turns out she comes here often. Worryingly often..." He said gravely, pushing up his glasses. "Things like sprained wrists, bumps on the head, cuts to the face... I'm not saying that-,"

"You think she's being abused?" Cal asked.

"... Well, yes," Ethan said. "It's highly likely, considering her behaviour and her history of injuries, that she is. Also, if she skidded into a tree on rollerblades, then where are they?" He asked.

Cal frowned and peeked in through the curtains, seeing that she had a pair of scuffed patent school shoes on...

"Oh..." He said, biting his lip. "Should we get social services in?"

"Mm I'd give it a bit, I'll see if I can get through to her," Ethan said, closing her files and holding them to his chest. "But could you chase up the parents for me?"

Cal nodded, setting off to do so.

...

"Okay, I think x-Ray are ready for you now, Emily." Ethan said, smiling as the pediatrician came through to take her. Emily paled slightly and grabbed Ethan's arm with her good hand.

"Please could you c-come with me?" She asked, blatantly nervous.

"Oh, yes, of course, if that's what you want." Ethan said, smiling and squeezing her hand reassuringly as they wheeled her off.

When they arrived and Ethan told Emily to shuffle over onto the other bed near the x-Ray machine, she looked down at her knees guiltily.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered.

"What are you sorry for?" Ethan asked gently, crouching down to her level, worried.

"Making such a fuss..." She said into the palm of her good hand, still struggling to face him directly.

"Oh, you're not making a fuss, trust me." Ethan said, smiling. "Was it because you wanted me to come with you?"

She paused before nodding, slowly looking up to make eye contact.

"Oh, Emily, it's fine, I'm happy to stay here with you if you want, it's my job to make sure you're okay." Ethan said, rubbing her back gently.

"Mum says I always make a big fuss when I'm hurt... She says I should just get on with it..." Emily said solemnly. Than frowned, alarmed by her words, thinking back to what Cal has mentioned before. Although he didn't intend to be intrusive, he deemed the situation suspicious and concerning enough to gently intervene.

"Does she?" Ethan asked, gently positioning her wrist under the machine. "What does Dad think about that?"

"My dad isn't here anymore..." Emily said, jiggling her knee up and down ( _Could be a sign of anxiety, Ethan thought._ ) "Mum says that he went to jail because he did bad things..."

"What sort of bad things?" Ethan enquired, donning a plastic apron as the machine started up.

"He used to come home from the pub, he was always drunk," Her voice reduced down to a whisper. "H-he used to hit me and my brother t-too... But it's okay because he's not here anymore. And we deserved it..."

"What makes you say that? You seem like a lovely person." Ethan said, gently stroking her hair out of her eyes to try and calm her. She flinched violently at the first touch but settled. _Almost definitely anxiety as a result of abuse..._

"Because we're bad children and don't deserve to be loved." She said simply, looking up at him. Ethan's heart ached at her story; his mind raging at the thought of her parents doing these evil things to their children.

"Well I don't think that's true," He said, holding her hand. "You're a very sweet little girl and you most certainly do deserve to be loved."

Emily smiled weakly, his words flying straight over her head due to the harsh ones of her mother and father being relentlessly beaten into her over the years. _Bad. Undeserving. Unloved._

The muted bleeping of the machine indicated that the scan was over. Ethan smiled at her, squeezing her hand. "All done!" He cheered, making her giggle softly. "Now, I'll go and collect your pictures and have a little look at them under the special light and I'll see what we can do to fix your arm from there," Ethan explained. Emily nodded and shuffled back onto her trolley, fiddling with the hem of her hospital pyjamas, once again unsure whether making eye contact was alright.

Ethan smiled sadly and rubbed her back again. "You look hungry, what did you have for breakfast?"

Emily flushed as she quickly tried to make something up. "I... um... T-toast..." She said, still avoiding eye contact and jumping as her stomach growled. Ethan's eye flickered over her small, skinny frame, instantly concluding otherwise.

"How about a sandwich and a cup of tea?" He offered, wheeling her out of the room.

Emily smiled a bit more. "Y-yes please... Thank you..." She added nervously. "Um... C-could I also..." She bit her lip. "N-never mind..."

Ethan stopped and looked down at her. "What is it?" He asked softly. "Do you need to use the toilet? Do you want a drink?"

"No, no, I just..." Emily began, looking down at her knees again. "I w-want my bear, I left h-him at home..." She said, eyes brimming with tears.

"Hey, hey, don't worry!" Ethan said, taking her hand again. "I'll see if we can find you someone to keep you company in the crèche." He said, smiling. "How does that sound?

Emily sniffled, smiling through her tears and suddenly reaching forward and burying her face into his neck, wrapping her good arm around him.

"I like you, you're really nice, and so is Dr. Knight..." She whispered, snuggling into him. Ethan flushed and couldn't help but smile at the affection she showed him.

 _She was a lot like Matilda, so sweet-natured and caring..._

"Well, thank you very much, Emily." He said, hugging her back before standing back up and pushing her back to the ward.

...

 **Yay! Two (maybe even 3 if part 2 is finished ooo) uploads the week! Yeah this one is a little bit waffly and I have mixed opinions on it but I hope that you guys enjoy it :3**

 **Please r &r/f&f, it would mean a lot to me :3**


	7. Before It's Too Late (II)

**Prompt: Cal and Ethan see to a young patient, who reminds them of Matilda, with a heart-breaking story. They do their best to save her before it's too late.**

 **Ethan- Current Age**

 **Cal- Current Age**

 **(As of the time in the series when Matilda was in Cal's care.)**

Ethan peeked around the corner near cubicles, scanning the area for the hawk-like eye of Connie, whom he was quite certain would not be impressed to see one of her most promising junior doctors juggling a cheese sandwich, a cup of tea, and a fairly large stuffed bear instead of healing the sick.

"Sh-," Ethan whispered, stopping himself from swearing as he nearly spilled his tea, sneaking down the corridor as quickly and carefully as he could. Not quickly and carefully enough, he found out.

"Dr. Hardy?" Came a familiar voice from behind him.

Ethan stopped, scared stiff as he slowly turned around, looking sheepishly at the annoyed expression on Connie's face as she stared at him.

"Would you care to explain what's going on here?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, which only served to make Ethan even more nervous.

"I-I, um, this is for a p-patient..." He stammered, awaiting Connie's response.

"Shouldn't you be busy treating them instead of showering them in stuffed animals?" She questioned.

"W-well, um, you see..." He began, but was interrupted as childish giggles came from behind the cubicle curtains.

Him and Connie turned, slightly confused, and drew back the curtains to see Cal and Emily blowing raspberries in a bid to make each other laugh. Ethan smiled softly but soon paled when he saw Mrs. Beauchamp looking utterly disgusted.

"Dr. Knight, if you would care to discontinue this immature and unhygienic behaviour and actually start to treat your patient..." She said coldly, glaring at him and Ethan before turning around, the clicking of her high-heels echoing down the corridor.

Ethan and Cal both looked at each other with a mixture of grimace and relief, having finally escaped Connie's unnecessarily harsh criticism.

"Well then, clearly she's never heard of the concept of having fun..." Ethan said, chuckling softly to lighten the mood. "I brought you the tea and a sandwich, and I found this guy in the toy-box down in the crèche." He said, smiling as he handed the bear over to Emily.

A large grin spread across her face as she hugged it, thanking Ethan profusely as she began to eagerly eat her sandwich.

"Any news from x-Ray?" Ethan asked Cal.

"Yeah, small, distal radial fracture, she's been to orthopaedics," gesturing to the bright white cast on her left arm. He added with a whisper. "Did you give social a call?"

Ethan nodded and turned to Emily, smiling when he saw the colour return to her cheeks a little as she sipped the tea. "I see you've got your cast on," he tapped it thrice, making her giggle.

"Do you want to sign it?" She asked, offering him a purple felt-tip the orthopaedic nurse had given her. Ethan chuckled, kneeling down and carefully signing his name as "Dr. Hardy", drawing a bespectacled stick-doctor with fluffy hair and a smiley face next to it.

"There we go." He said, smiling and giving her back the pen.

Emily laughed when she saw, offering the pen to Cal as well, whom kneeled in Ethan's place and began to draw.

"Also..." Ethan turned to Cal and bit his lip. His brother nodded, prompting him to speak. "...We're going to have a little chat to some people about mum. They might want to speak to you as well..."

Emily swallowed, looking up nervously. "Who? Why?" She asked.

"A lady from social services is coming in, because... Well... We're a bit, um... Worried, about you," Ethan admitted. "As a child you deserve to have a safe home and guardians who care for you, and it doesn't seem like that's the case for you..."

"... I don't want them to get cross with me..." She said, looking down and fiddling with the blanket.

"They won't be able to get cross with you ever again, we promise, they'll be gone." Cal said, finishing the drawing. "And I don't know about you, Nibbles, but I'd say I'm the more artistic sibling here." He said, pointing at his signature and stick-figure drawing, which served to lighten he mood for a second or two as Ethan chuckled and Emily smiled weakly, frowning again soon after.

"B-but..." She began sniffling, eye tearing up. "I l-love them, they d-don't mean to hurt us, they always say s-sorry..."

Ethan could only squeeze her hand sympathetically, struggling to find the words to explain that her parents didn't truly love her back.

 _Both boys cared for Matilda greatly, and wouldn't let anything happen to her- and she loved them back, unconditionally. He wished the same could be said for Emily..._

As a doctor, he wasn't supposed to get emotionally attached to patients where he could help it, but he felt himself tearing up a bit. All sadness was pushed aside when a shrill voice came crying from the corridor.

"Where's Emily? Oi, nurse, can you hear me? I said I want to see my daughter!"

Emily gasped, hands clamped over her mouth. Cal and Ethan felt their hearts racing as they stood up, peeking behind the curtains to see a young-ish woman; average height, with an shifty expression in her eyes, and a forceful, fake smile stretching her thin lips tightly. She dragged a young boy with her, whom seemed eerily similar to Emily not only in looks, but also in his quiet, fearful demeanour and reluctancy to look up. Both boys paled slightly as they saw the faint lines of healing bruises coupled with fresh ones scattered down the boys arm, concluding that this was almost certainly Emily's "family".

"D-don't let her see me..." Emily whispered, looking more fearful than ever.

"We won't, we won't,-" Ethan said, frantically pacing in circles as he tried to think of a plan, the increasingly loudening clicking of high-heels along the hospital floor not aiding as he tried to clear his head. He looked desperately to his brother, and, without wasting another second, Cal quickly dashed out just in time, smiling a little too widely as he was faced with the woman he and his brother had guessed was Emily's mother and younger brother, as well as poor Lofty, whom was currently trying his best to be assertive towards her but failing horribly.

"Hello, are you Emily's mother?" Cal asked, trying his best to remain calm and collected when really his legs were turning to jelly with nerves.

"Yes, I am, where is she?" The woman demanded.

"She's currently up in the orthopaedic clinic, she's suffered from a small fracture in her wrist, and will require a cast for four to six weeks..." He explained. Her mother huffed, looking away, but not quickly enough for Cal to miss the anger flash in her eyes.

"Daft girl, always having accidents," She said, laughing nervously. "Isn't that right, Benny?" She turned to her son and tugged on his wrist a little bit, making him wince before nodding. She glared at him as she heard the cry passed his lips, looking back up to Cal with a sheepish smile. Cal looked up from the younger boy and to his "parent", raising his eyebrows.

"If you'd like to let Lofty here show you to the relatives room, I'll call you back when Emily is down." He said, tightening his lips, clenching his fists behind his back to avoid punching her right then and there.

"Fine then," she turned to Lofty, pulling on Ben's arm again. "Hurry up, Benny, I'm dying for the loo."

"I can look after him whilst you go, if you want?" Lofty offered, holding out his hand for Ben. The mother glared at him and Cal, reluctantly letting to of her son's hand, looking somewhat nervous as she marched down the corridor.

Lofty smiled down at Ben, turning to Cal as he saw the junior doctor approach him.

"The police are due down here any moment now, social too," Cal muttered. "It's pretty obvious that it's going on, but suspected child abuse. I know it's difficult, but we need to keep her away from these kids as long as you can..."

Lofty nodded, kneeling down to Ben's level. "Okay, Ben, Dr. Knight is going to take you to see your sister whilst Mum goes for a talk with a few people, yeah?" He said, handing him over to Cal, whom smiled warmly and gently picked him up, nodding at Lofty as he set off down the corridor to face their mother when she returned from the bathroom.

Cal was just about to step behind the curtains when he was interrupted by Dylan.

"Caleb, is it?" He asked. "Yes, I don't suppose you've seen Nathan anywhere, I'd like his second opinion on a patient."

"Oh, Ethan? Well, he's a bit tied up at the moment," Cal explained. "But I'm free, I can go if you want?"

"No, no, totally inappropriate, I need Nathan..." Dylan said, pulling back the curtains and returning with Ethan, beginning to explain his case to the younger, slightly flustered doctor.

Cal huffed, smiling at Ben and taking him to see Emily, whom greeted him warmly and pulled him towards her chest, holding him in a tight hug. Ben immediately sank into his sister's embrace, smiling, and for the first time since they had arrived, both siblings looked truly happy. It warmed Cal's heart.

 _He trusted her so much, she was his everything, the one who was always there for him and would always love him..._

"I'll be back in a minute, okay?" He said, stepping out and dashing over to the computer area, flicking through notes in files to ensure that everything had been taken down and that the police were due to arrive soon. He took a moment to rest, realising that he literally hadn't stopped moving for three hours since the case began. Allowing his head to fall forward into his hands, he closed his eyes and let himself drift off for a second, looking back up when he heard a raspy voice call his name.

"Cal? Social are here..." Lofty panted, sounding out of breath.

"Good, good," Cal said, frowning in confusion. "You okay? You look like you've just ran a marathon..."

"It's, um..." Lofty stuttered, eyes widening as realisation came over him. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I looked away for literally a second because a patient fell in the corridor, a-and she m-must've..."

"Lofty? What are you talking about?" Cal asked, beginning to panic.

"Th-the mother, she's gone, she wasn't there when I checked in the toilets, I had to run all around the hospital trying to find her, and I-," Lofty stopped to let out a shaky breath. "I'm really, really sorry, Cal..."

"Hey, hey, it's okay, it's not your fault," Cal said, putting his hands on his shoulders. "She can't have gone far, she'll only be around here somewhere, and besides, I've only been out here for a minute or two, so I'm sure Emily and Ben are fine..." Cal paused, doubt lacing his words as his ears perked up, unable to hear the quiet giggled that were emitting from the curtains just minutes before.

"Oh no..." Lofty said, drawing the curtains to reveal an empty bed, the blankets crumpled and damp with spilled, lukewarm tea; an abandoned teddy bear laying on the floor, his paws pointing towards black high-heel marks that stained the tiles.

"Ethan, Ethan!" Cal cried, bursting into the room where his brother and Dylan were busy.

"Cal? What's the matter?" Ethan asked concernedly, looking up from his and Dylan's patient.

"It's Emily and Ben, she's taken them from cubicles and we can't find them, and-." Cal rushed.

"Oh god, okay, call security, inform Mrs. Beauchamp, and social and the police need to know..." Ethan said, abandoning the patient and running over to Cal.

"Nathan? Nathan!" Dylan called, sighing and turning back to the man on the bed. "I'm sorry sir, please continue, you were in Greggs when what happened?"

Both brothers burst out of Resus, Cal rushing towards the police and Ethan hunting for Connie, their hearts pounding in their chests as they ran all over the place in a desperate bid to find out where Emily's mother had taken her children.

"Mrs. Beauchamp?" Ethan asked, knocking on the already ajar door, stepping in before Connie could respond. "We've got a serious case of almost-certain child abuse on our hands, the mother's ran off with both her son and daughter and they're hiding somewhere in here..." He stopped for a moment, taking a quick puff of his inhaler to calm down.

"Child abuse? How can you be so sure?" Connie asked, calling for security on her phone.

"Classic symptoms; fear and anxiety around the abuser, a medical history jam-packed with "accidents", birth of them looking absolutely starving, I-," Ethan took another puff, trying to slow his breathing.

"Okay, you need to sit down, Ethan." Connie said, holding the phone to her ear and gesturing to the chair opposite her desk, but Ethan shook his head, there was no time for him to sit and relax.

"Right, security are closing as many main entrances as they can, and I suppose you and Cal are planning on hunting her down?" She said, walking quickly to the main reception area with Ethan.

"Yes, but we need everybody to keep a look out for them,-" Ethan said, interrupted as he saw his older brother dashing down the corridor.

"Ethan, Ethan, have you seen them? Anywhere?" He asked, paling.

"No, but security are closing all the main entrances so they can't get ou-... Are you okay?"

Cal trembled slightly, his hands shaking as his words stumbled all over the place. "Wh-what if she's near the crèche? I-I, M-Matilda..."

Ethan's eyes widened, both of them running off in the general direction of the crèche, though they couldn't be too sure, they were too preoccupied with the thoughts of what could happen to Matilda; sweet, innocent Matilda...

"Oh my god, I am so sorry about all of this, Cal, none of this would be happening if I had just,- hey!" Ethan was caught off guard as Cal pulled him back by the shoulders, twisting him around and pressing a finger to his lips.

Both boys listened quietly, and after a few seconds they were able to hear a soft, muted thumping on the door to the cleaners cupboard. Not wasting a second, Cal reached forward and pulled at the handle, jiggling it back and forth.

"Locked from the inside..." He sighed.

Ethan gave him a somewhat smug look and brandished a pound coin's change from his earlier purchases in the hospital café, jamming it into the lock and twisting it, successfully opening the door.

"I knew this would come in handy." He said, smirking. Cal stuck his tongue out at him and hesitantly peeked into the dark room.

"Hello?" Both boys called. They were, once again, met by that same muted thump.

"It's too dark, we can't see properly..." Ethan mumbled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his medical torch. "I guess this will have to do..."

"I'll keep an eye out for her in the corridor, just in case she's got out..." Cal said, remaining where he was.

Ethan rolled his eyes and peered around the room, shining the torch across the walls. It was a mess; toilet rolls and empty bleach bottles littered across the stretch of the polished tile floor. A shelf in the far corner had collapsed, leaving a large pile of rubble beneath it.

"Hello?" Ethan said. "Is anybody in here? I'm a doctor..." He said, trying hard not to let the unfamiliar environment and lack of light faze him.

The latter of he problems was fixed as he heard his brother "Ah !" And flick on the light switch from the entrance. Ethan grumbled something about his brother under his breath, jumping slightly as a quiet voice came from beneath the rubble.

"Dr. Hardy?"

"Emily?" He asked, shoving away cardboard tubes and pieces of splintered shelf to find the young girl curled around her little brother.

"Please, you've got to help him, he's hurt!" She whimpered, gesturing to the dripping, crimson gash that sliced the boys pale, clammy skin. Ethan paled himself as he pondered how long they had been in here whilst they were searching for them.

"Don't worry, we'll have you out of here in no time," Ethan said, looking around for something to help the cut on Ben's head start to clot. He had to make do with a scrap of toilet paper, folding it up and holding it to his head, calling for Cal. "Cal! Go and get Connie!"

"Have you found them?" He called.

"Yes, but I can't see the mother, I think she's gone." Ethan replied. Cal turned and ran down the corridor to go and find Mrs. Beauchamp. Ethan smiled down at the pair.

"Right, let's get you out from under here..." He said, trying to scoop up Ben, gasping as he heard the shelving unit next to them make a terrifying creaking sound, the middle shelf snapping and tumbling even more cleaning supplies onto the floor, blocking Ethan's path to the entrance. Emily whimpered in fear.

"Hey, hey, sh, sh, sh," He said, "It's okay, we're getting out of here now..." He heard Cal return, talking to whom sounded like the Police and Connie.

"Cal, a hand in here please!" He called, struggling to stem the flow of blood and protect them from any other rubble that could fall onto them.

His stomach turned slightly as he heard the second shelf begin to creak, knowing he had to act fast. Cal ran in and, as quickly as he could, Ethan scooped up Ben, handing him to Cal. "Keep pressure on his wound!" He said, turning to grab Emily.

He froze in panic as he saw the shelf give way in slow motion, causing the entire unit to topple forward. He just about managed to grab Emily in time for Cal to take her in his other arm, before he felt the unit come into contact with the back of his head and knock him forward.

"Ethan!"

"Caleb, I really don't see what all of this fuss is about..."

"Are you kidding me?" Cal said. "You were knocked out by a falling shelving unit, Nibbles! You're not leaving this hospital til I say so."

Ethan grumbled and sat up in his bed, allowing Cal to examine the cut on the back of his head.

"So, did they find her?" He asked, wincing as Cal poked around the gash.

"Sorry," Cal said. "And yeah, she tried to run off but they caught her and arrested her. Both kids are up in the wards for tonight but they'll be going into temporary foster care tomorrow."

"That's good..." Ethan said, smiling softly. "I must say, I don't think I've ever had a case quite like today before..."

"Me neither... They're kind of scary," Cal admitted. "But, it's all part of the job, I'm afraid. And they're both safe now. You did good, little brother." He said, dressing the wound and squeezing Ethan's shoulder. "You'll probably want some morphine for the headache too..." He said, fixing a syringe up and administering it via the IV in Ethan's pale hand.

Ethan offered him a half-hearted smile, sitting back in his bed and closing his eyes as the medicine took effect, yawning. "I'm exhausted..."

"You're not the only one, believe me..." Cal said, also yawning and taking a moment to sit on the end of Ethan's bed, watching the form of his resting brother and smiling to himself. He had always found it oddly soothing to watch Ethan sleep.

"Stop watching me sleep, Caleb..." Came a mumble from his drowsy, younger brother.

"Calm down, I'm just observing you, I am your doctor, after all..." Cal joked. "Hold on, actually, I need to go and get someone..."

Ethan's brow creased in confusion, but he was too sleepy from the morphine to comprehend it much and instead decided to carry on sleeping.

Minutes later, Cal returned, now changed out of his work scrubs, and a small bundle of pink and white blankets gurgling in his arms.

"She's missed Uncle Ethan." Cal chuckled, sitting on the chair next to Ethan's bed as the younger's eyes fluttered open to see his niece. He smiled warmly and reached out, holding her tiny hand and running his thumb over her palm.

"Hello gorgeous..." He said, smiling even wider at her happy babbling in response.

"We've missed you today, toad..." Cal said fondly, stroking her wisps of pale brown hair and gazing lovingly into her sky-blue eyes.

Ethan smiled at the pair, yawning softly as he felt sleep begin to cloud his thoughts.

"Shall we say goodnight to Uncle Ethan?" Cal asked her, gently leaning her forward for Ethan to press a kiss to her forehead.

"Night-night, princess..." Ethan chuckled.

"Well I'm kind of accustomed to Cal now, but I guess 'princess' could work too." Cal said, smiling at Ethan's drowsy eye-roll. "Robyn and Rita said they'd take care of her whilst I stay the night with you..."

Ethan peeked an eye open. "You don't have to do that, Cal... Go home, look after her."

"Don't worry about it, honestly." Cal said, flushing sheepishly. "I just want to make sure you're okay..."

Ethan smiled softly, closing his eyes. "Alright then."

Cal smiled and pressed a kiss to Ethan's forehead himself, before stepping out to find Rita and Robyn.

"All ready for a girls night in, I see." Robyn giggled, taking Matilda in her carrier as both girls cooed over her in her little bear onesie.

"Thanks for offering to take care of her, it's just, what with all that's gone on today, I wanted to spend a bit of time with Ethan by himself. Y'know, give him some attention for once..." Cal said, smiling down at Matilda.

"Oh no, it's fine, we don't mind at all; she's lovely." Rita said, pulling a funny face at her and laughing at her giggles.

Cal chuckled and gave them both a quick hug, blowing a kiss to Matilda before turning back to Ethan's cubicle to find him sound asleep, glasses still perched on his nose.

He tsked and chuckled fondly, gently removing them and placing them in his bedside cabinet. "Don't want to break these again, do we?"

Ethan stirred a little, his expression looking relaxed for the first time today. Cal smiled and reached out, stroking his hair back from his forehead.

 _He may love Matilda dearly, but Ethan would always be his little brother._

 **Yay! The beast hath been slain!**

 **I'm glad that I finally finished this one ahhh :')**

 **I feel like it's quite rambly in some places, but nonetheless I'm quite happy with it. I don't know if I'm too fond of the overall prompt though lol.**

 **Please do r &r and f&f!**

 **Until next time, goodbye!**


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